20101027

Real Chocolate & Guinness Muffins

Opulence. Love it - life is short! Let's eat. Here is a memorable recipe that embodies the very essence of opulence. I almost feel guilty eating it; well almost. This recipe combines real British chocolate with real Irish Guinness in what would be called small cakes in the UK. Here in Canada we call them muffins. Here is how I made this delicious little treat.

Ingredients

200g bar Cadbury Bournville dark chocolate

1 bottle/can Guinness

1 1/2 cups McDougalls plain flour

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 pinch of salt

PreparationThe Muffins

Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt together in a large bowl

Grate 100g of Cadbury Bournville chocolate into the flour and stir

Soften the butter and beat thoroughly with the sugar

Add the eggs to the butter/sugar mix and whisk again until smooth

Alternately add flour mix and Guinness and stir until all the ingredients are added and the batter is smooth

Grease a muffin pan and pour in the batter

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350F for about a half hour (test the muffins by pushing a sharp knife into a muffin. They are properly baked when the knife comes out clean

The Chocolate Sauce Topping

Using a double boiler (I used a pyrex dish over a pan of boiling water) melt the other 100g of Cadbury Bournville chocolate then stir in just enough Guinness to make a thick sauce

Allow the muffins and the chocolate sauce to cool then spread the sauce generously over the top of each muffin

John's Notes
You are going to need at least two bottles or cans of Guinness. Before you begin making this recipe pour one of the bottles into a glass and taste it to ensure that it is safe to use in this recipe. If anybody questions why you are drinking one of the bottles of Guinness tell them the recipe says you have to. You should stock up on extra Cadbury chocolate for the same reason. Now get cracking and enjoy; the world could end tomorrow.

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The soap with that very regal scent, originally called "Imperial Russian leather" was created in 1938. During the war years, when soap was rationed, Imperial Leather became very popular because of its reputation for lasting longer than regular soaps.

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